School Board Approves Comprehensive Plan

After 18 months of study and deliberation, the Central Bucks School District is on its way to a new comprehensive plan.

The school board voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve a draft of the new comprehensive plan. It will now be sent to the state.

Every six years, the state Department of Education requires school districts to update their comprehensive plan.

A committee at Central Bucks started in the summer of 2011, bringing together teachers, principals, and eventually parents and students to discuss their visions for the district's future.

Its future looks much like its present and past.

The 145-page plan - which can be reviewed here on the district's website - spells out the district's commitment to its students.

"Central Bucks schools will provide all students with the academic and problem-solving skills essential for personal development, responsible citizenship, and life-long learning," reads its mission statement.

"To this end, Central Bucks expects students to acquire and demonstrate a broad base of knowledge and skills as a foundation for continued learning so that they will become:"

• Complex thinkers, who can reason, reflect, make decisions, and solve problems, supporting and defending their solutions.
• Self-directed resilient learners who can set and prioritize goals, monitor and evaluate progress, use information resources and emerging technologies, and adapt to change.
• Effective and creative communicators who use a variety of skills to express concepts and ideas.
• Informed and responsible citizens who contribute to their community, their country, and their world.
• Collaborative workers who can demonstrate cooperation and leadership within groups to accomplish a common goal.
• Quality producers whose work reflects high standards, originality, and unique abilities.

On Tuesday, assistant superintendent David Weitzel, who led the project, said the new plan is ready to submit to the state.

The plan did not elicit much public interest, beyond those people already involved in the planning process. Superintendent Dr. Rod Green said the district did not receive any further comment from the public after it was posted on the district's website for review.